Science Fair Program

2008 DETROIT METRO SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FAIR

For the 12th straight year members of the Section’s Environmental & Safety Committee judged in the Professional Awards Division of the Senior Fair. Up to four awards can be given Prizes of a $100 US Saving Bonds are given to “Outstanding” project students and $50 Bonds to “Commendable” project students. Winnowing Outstanding project students, their parents and teachers are invited to the May Section Meeting where bonds and certificates are presented. Six judges took part in this year’s program. They were Keith Williams, Yolanda Watts, John Halthon, Wallace Ribbron, Ed Havlena and Peter Warner. Judging began with a quick screening process to pick out only projects that dealt with both environment and chemistry. The aim here is to find only chemical/environmental projects for detailed appraisal by the entire team of judges. The entire Senior Division of the Fair was included in this process. Eighteen projects were marked for further scrutiny. The final step includes interviews with the students by the entire judging team. Each project considered was rated individually by each judge. The ratings were combined and the final decision was that two projects deserved an Outstanding rating. and one rated highly enough to qualify for a Commendable Award.. The judging this year was somewhat compromised because many seniors who had produced and exhibited projects were not able to attend the judging because of a competing MEAP exam. Projects without students were ignored by the judging team.. Awardees and project data are listed below.  Photos of the awardees and abstracts of their projects are available here

OUTSTANDING AWARDEES

Potential Fertilizer Effect of the Detroit River
Zeinab A. Hachem
Grade 12, Dearborn Center for Math, Science, and Technology
Teacher:  Karen  Pikula

A Synthesis of Nanoparticle-enabled Membranes
for Biofouling Mitigation
Hari Arud
Grade 12, Detroit Country Day, Upper
Teacher: Gene Menton

COMMENDABLE AWARDEE  

Spinning Cyclone   
Alaa Saab
Grade 10, Dearborn Center for Math, Science, and Technology
Teacher: Jeff Whittaker